WiscoSam

What finish would you recommend for a gun sling? DG uses tankote in his video. Weaver uses leather balm with atom wax. Others use resolene. Trying to figure out what a good finish would be any help appreciated.

Hey thanks for the reply. I am not using any sort of resist. After I oil the belt with neatsfoot oil I let that sit for a day or so, then apply the gel antique to both sides of the strap. I wipe it off to get that antique look, that’s the color I mentioned that I like above. So whereas I think a lot of folks will use a pro dye, then an antique paste, I simply use the gel antique. And once the gel dries, for the flesh side I use Aussie wax to seal and condition, but I’m still seeing some dye bleed onto jeans. I do dilute the resolene some, mainly I just wet my dauber before dipping it in the bottle. There’s probably better products in different order than I’m doing, but there’s so much stuff out there I’m not sure

Looking for advice on how to finish a hand tooled, hand stitched belt. For my past belts i've done steps in this order: 1) Once belt is tooled, put a light coat of neatsfoot oil 2) Dye belt using Eco-Flo gel antique 3) Stich belt with wax thread 4) 2 coats resolene on grain side 5) Aussie wax on flesh side What i've noticed doing it this way is that the resolene will crack after awhile. I've also noticed some dye rub-off onto jeans (although I think the aussie wax helps). I know a lot of people will dye their belt then use antique paste, but I kind of like the way the gel antique looks. I'm asking if anyone has recommendations on different products to use or a different order than I've shown above. The belts will get lots of where so something to seal/protect would be helpful. Thanks

Hey Dwight, thanks for the reply. Its ok to use the antique over a resist product (like pro-resist or supershene)? Meaning the antique will still apply correctly over the resist products? Also what would you recommend for a final finish? Ive always used resolene, but for this project I was considering leather balm with atom wax. Although I'm not sure if that would take the antique off.

I am working on making another one of these tote bag things like you see in the picture. This next one will have a side that has a floral tooled pattern. Otherwise it will be the same. For the first one (one in the pic) I used neatsfoot oil, then pro-dye, then a couple coats of resolene. My question is, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a different/better method to dye and finish this next tote bag. Because part of it will be tooled should I use and antique? And if so in what order - do I dye with dye first, then antique when the dye dries? (i've used antique before on belts but never over any existing dye, the antique was the only dye used and I'm not sure thats the correct way). For a finish, instead of resolene i was thinking of using leather balm with atom wax. I've never used that before and was wondering if it would be a good product for a project like this. Thanks folks

I am working on making another one of these tote bag things like you see in the picture. This next one will have a side that has a floral tooled pattern. Otherwise it will be the same. For the first one (one in the pic) I used neatsfoot oil, then pro-dye, then a couple coats of resolene. My question is, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a different/better method to dye and finish this next tote bag. Because part of it will be tooled should I use and antique? And if so in what order - do I dye with dye first, then antique when the dye dries? (i've used antique before on belts but never over any existing dye, the antique was the only dye used and I'm not sure thats the correct way). For a finish, instead of resolene i was thinking of using leather balm with atom wax. I've never used that before and was wondering if it would be a good product for a project like this. Thanks folks

I have been working on a tooled belt the last few days and I’m trying to figure out at which point to apply Neatsfoot oil. I’ve already dyed the belt after tooling it, and I’ll also be putting a decorative stitch on the belt as well. So at which point should I apply Neatsfoot oil? Should I apply after dyeing (I used Eco flo antique gel) but before stitching? Or should I apply the oil after dyeing and after stitching? Should I have applied the oil before dying but after tooling? Should I not apply it at all on a belt? Thanks

I'm looking at getting a machine and am comparing the TechSew 5100, Cobra Class 4, and Cowboy CB4500. From the research I've done and everything I've read they're all similar machines with similar specifications. These machines might be more machine than I need, but I wanted a machine that can sew the real thick thread, and all of these sew up to 415 (i think the thick thread looks nice on a belt). There are times when it would be used for thinner leather to put a decorative stich on 1 layer of veg tanned leather, so I'm wondering how these big machines perform on thinner leather? I know Wiz wrote an article on "dumbing down" the machine which was helpful. Basically I'd like to get the big machine to handle the thick thread, but would be using it on thinner leather sometimes. Also, of the three machines, does anyone have a preference on which machine performs best? I've read that customer service from all companies are good. I'm in Wisconsin so the closest company would be Cowboy, but even that's a 10 hour drive so I would most likely do shipping either way.